Hill Farm to End Pick-Your-Own Operations After 52 Years

A farm has declared its intention to cease all pick-your-own fruit and vegetable activities for visitors, concluding a 52-year period of operation. Paddy Ivens, aged 61, is the proprietor of Hill Farm, located in Chesterton, Peterborough. His father, now deceased, initiated the practice of allowing customers to harvest their own corn on the cob at the farm in 1972. Mr. Ivens noted that the farm attracts numerous visitors from throughout Cambridgeshire, offering them the opportunity to gather their own strawberries, plums, pumpkins, and various other soft fruits. According to Mr. Ivens, the presence of his grandchildren has prompted him to seek “get a better work-life balance.” He also cited unpredictable weather conditions as a factor making produce cultivation “so much more of a challenge.” Mr. Ivens stated, “My father ran the business before me.” He further explained that his father acquired the 250 acres (101 hectares) of arable land for Hill Farm in 1962, and a decade later, allocated four acres to experiment with growing sweetcorn, presenting it as a pick-your-own option. He added that “The public seemed intrigued and we sold it as ‘corn on the cob’ as no-one had heard of sweetcorn – it was seen as a bit exotic.” Following this initial success, Mr. Ivens mentioned that the family expanded their pick-your-own offerings to include other fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, raspberries, plums, and pumpkins. He affirmed, “I will continue with my arable farming and will do more environmental projects like planting up wild flower meadows and putting in extra trees.” Presently, a section of the farm is designated for caravaners, and Mr. Ivens indicated a potential future plan to increase the capacity beyond the existing five-van restriction. Annually, Mr. Ivens plants approximately 40,000 pumpkin seeds, an area comparable to five to six football pitches. He commented, “This year has been a bit of a pumpkin disaster due to a combination of weather from a cold wet spring, to dry July and August, then very wet September and October. Last year was the best crop ever, this year is probably the worst.” Mr. Ivens expressed having “mixed emotions” regarding the cessation of his pick-your-own enterprise. He elaborated, “Two things I will really miss are growing pumpkins, gourds and squashes as you never know what they are going to come up like, and the thrill of seeing them emerge from a clump of weeds in October is a magical time in my book.” Mr. Ivens added, “Looking over a sea of strawberry flowers when they first appear is another goose bump moment for me that I’ll miss tremendously.”